The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Baghdad:#1: On Monday, though, a roadside bomb targeting an American convoy exploded, said an Iraqi police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information. Two people were killed and six others were wounded, the officer said. There were no reported American causalities.

Kut:#1: A wife of a policeman on Monday was wounded in an armed attack on her house in western Kut, according to a local police source. “Unknown gunmen attacked the house of a policeman in al-Azza area, western Kut, wounding his 29-year-old wife,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The policeman was not in the house at the time of the attack,” the source noted, adding that an investigation is currently underway.

Baiji:#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were injured by a roadside bomb which targeted their vehicle in downtown Baji city north of Tikrit on Monday morning.

Makhmour: (Irbil Prv.)#1: Two unknown bodies were found in Iraq’s northern Makhmour district, a local security source said on Monday. “On Monday, police forces found two unknown bodies belonging to civilians on a road between al-Kweer and Makhmour,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The bodies bore gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were delivered to the morgue,” the source added.

Kirkuk:#1: The airbase of the Multinational forces in Kirkuk was attacked by an unknown rocket, a source from the joint coordination center in Kirkuk said on Monday. “A rocket was launched by unknown gunmen at 2:00pm on Monday (Feb. 2) in Baghdad road region in southern Kirkuk towards the Multinational forces’ base in southwestern Kirkuk, with no reports on casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency

Mosul:#1: Six civilians on Monday were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Mosul city, according to a local security source. “Monday at noon, an explosive charge targeted a U.S. patrol vehicle in Raas al-Gada area, western Mosul, wounding six civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

update: The Casualties from the bombing attack that took place on Monday in western Mosul rose to two dead and 10 wounded, according to a security source. “The death toll of the bomb blast that targeted a U.S. vehicle patrol on Monday (Feb. 2) in western Mosul rose two dead and ten wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the two are a man and his son. The same source had said earlier that an explosive charge targeted a U.S. patrol vehicle in Raas al-Gada area, western Mosul, wounding six civilians. Aswat al-Iraq news agency has tried to contact the U.S. side, but to no avail.

#2: One policeman was wounded when a roadside bomb went off near his patrol in western Mosul city, a source from the Ninewa police said on Monday. “The incident took place at Talal-Roman area,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Gunmen kidnapped an American U.N. worker and killed his driver in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, underscoring the security threat in a country wracked by al-Qaida violence and rising criminality. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called the abduction a "dastardly terrorist act," but it was not clear who seized the head of the U.N. refugee office in the city of Quetta as he traveled to work. Police officer Khalid Masood identified the victim as U.S. citizen John Solecki and said he had been working in Quetta for more than two years.Authorities sealed exit routes from the city, said Wazir Khan Nasir, another officer. U.N. spokeswoman Amena Kamaal in Islamabad confirmed that a Pakistani driver was killed and a foreign national employee's whereabouts were unknown but declined to release any other details.

A senior official of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was kidnapped Monday by some unidentified gunmen in southwestern Pakistan.

#2: A suicide bomber in a police uniform detonated his explosives inside a police training centre in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 21 officers and wounding at least 20, officials said. The bomber entered the training facility in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, as the police reservists were exercising, said Juma Gul Himat, Uruzgan's provincial police chief. The blast, which also damaged the compound, killed 21 policemen and wounded at least 20 others, Himat said. Nine of the wounded were sent to hospitals, while the rest were released after treatment, Himat said.

#3: A man was killed and six people were injured when unidentified attackers lobbed a hand grenade at a police patrol in remote southwestern Pakistan, police said yesterday. The grenade attack occurred late Saturday in the town of Khuzdar, some 330km south of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province on the border with Afghanistanand Iran. “The police patrol was the target, but the grenade was tossed over the vehicle’s roof, fell in front of some shops and exploded, killing a passerby and injuring six other people,” senior police official Rehmat Ullah said. Another grenade exploded in almost the same spot, but it caused no casualties or damage, he said. Police are investigating the incident but have thus far made no arrests, he said.

#4: Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated Sunday against an overnight US military raid that killed several civilians, a villager claimed whereas US military said its forces killed two militants.